{with Carly and a friend after a Friday twilight swim. We topped the evening off with a stop at Buster's for an ice cream cone. Carly got chocolate chip cookie dough, her friend's choice was butter pecan, and mine - key lime pie.....YUM!}

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edited additions...after I wrote this post REALLY early this morning, I thought about ice cream a lot today. What I really started thinking about was fun ice cream stories from my life and wishing I had pictures to go along with them. Warning!! this gets a little long winded.

.....Can we stop yet? When I was growing up, we made homemade ice cream at my Big Daddy and Finn's house. The Ice Cream maker sat in the kitchen sink and we all took turns cranking it. The youngest took their turns first when it was the easiest to crank. It seemed to take forever to thicken, but BOY did it taste good when it did.

.....After swimming every afternoon in the summer, we would stop at the country store and get ice cream (I'm sure not everyday, but frequently enough that I remember doing it). There were orange sherbetpushups, drumsticks, and ice cream sandwiches. And on the way out the door we would tell the person working to "charge it to my Daddy".

.....When I was in college, I had a car wreck. (no need to discuss that I hit a parked car on the way to the library, no not a bar but the real library) Kenny and I had just met and being the sweet guy he was/is stopped by my apartment to check on me shortly after and brought a box of ice cream sandwiches. Right after that my mom and dad showed up, and my dad escorted Kenny to the door with "you can go now". Welcome to the family, sweetie. What a night!

.....When I was a few months pregnant, I went with my mom, sister and aunt on a girls' trip. One morning, we went to the outlet mall for some shopping. It was hot, I was very pregnant, and I was not really interested in shopping . They found me shortly after we arrived sitting on a bench eating ice cream. I still hear about that one.

.....Two trips to Italy....lots and lots of gellato in some amazing places!

......Moving to a small town that has "The Dip" (it's name was changed a few years ago but all those in the know still call it "The Dip") a local hamburger, ice cream drive thru that makes me think about the good old days at home when you got soft serve ice cream at "The Dairy Bar" (it's name was changed many years ago but all those in the know still call it "The Dairy Bar").

.....Last year, my mom, sister, Carly and I got out for a day of shopping on the day after Thanksgiving. By mid afternoon, we had done a lot of shopping. Carly pipes up from the back seat to inform us that she is feeling "grump-i-dy". There was some discussion about what would cure the "grump-i-diness" and ice cream was the winner. We pulled through the Buster's drive thru and she chose "Cotton Candy Explosion". It worked.

Carly has discovered one of my favorite card games. Kenny swore off playing with me a long time ago. Now Carly wants to play every time we have some down time. I started carrying it to the pool so we could play in the SHADE when we need a break.

Carly likes to play card games and board games. Besides Skip-Bo, her other favorites right now are:

We had so much fun lounging by the pool, visiting, and sometimes getting hot enough to get in the ice-cold pool. It has been a long time since I have laughed so much.

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My friend Jan and her daughter. A picture on the blog as proof to her husband that she actually did it. She said he would never believe that she did. Not only did she do it, but I think she liked it.

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"5 adults and 8 kids"....the 5 words that will strike fear into the eyes of a waitress! That was even before they grasped that there were 8 very tired children worn out from hours in the sun and playing hard. But, surprisingly we had 2 really good dinners out - Rosie's Cantina for Mexican food and Rickatoni'sTrattoria for Italian food.

Sunday, July 13

Last night, we headed downtown to catch a baseball game. On the way we dropped into the Peabody for the March of the Ducks.

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Everyday at 11:00, since 1933,

5 ducks are marched from their duck palace on the roof,

down the elevator, across the red carpet, and

into the fountain in the Peabody lobby.

This is where they stay until 5:00

when the Duck Master comes to get them,

marches them down the red carpet, into the elevator,

and back to the roof.

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There was lots of Pomp & Circumstance and LOTs of people. When we arrived in the lobby about 4:30 the fountain and red carpet were already surrounded. The first floor balcony was lined with people. I guess that is what you get when you come to watch the ducks in the middle of tourist season (we should be tourist in our area in off-peak times). Carly was able to squeeze through to sit under the rope along the red carpet with other children. I worked my way to a small corner so I could see her and maybe catch a glimpse of the ducks. Kenny went to the piano bar.

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But yes we did see the ducks climb out of the water, go down the steps, waddle across the red carpet, and load up in the elevator.

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Then there was baseball.

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We have been to several games over the years, but have not made one this year. It is a beautiful stadium in the heart of downtown Memphis and a good environment for kids.

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There was sweating (97 in the shade),

watching ball (Carly was more interested in the game),

people watching (wow at the tattoos.), and

eating (ever had BBQ nachos - probably only in Memphis).

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It was a great family night out. Kenny and I decided we should do it again, but maybe when it cools off a little?

Saturday, July 12

I had challenged myself this summer to be a tourist in our own area. There are places here that we have visited with regularity such as the zoo and the children's museum but so many others that we haven't. Sometimes it is a little embarrassing that I haven't taken Carly to some of the best things this area has to offer. We won't even talk about Graceland (that's on September's schedule)!

Friday, we set out to Tunica. Tunica is best known for its casino industry. It is always a little amazing the huge casinos that have popped up in what was previously some mighty-fine cotton farmland. Tidbit: casinos pay a lot more than farming does. And speaking of casinos, they produce LOTS of tax revenue which I'm sure funded the TunicaRiverPark. They are working really hard in Tunica to bring in tourist dollars and they know that to do that they have to offer more than gambling.

Carly and I really enjoyed our visit. It is a beautiful building and the grounds are really nice. They have this fun bridge to walk over to the Tunica Queen's dock. There is a large "boardwalk" along the river and walking trails. The MS River is very familiar to us because we are from the Delta, but Carly was still mesmerized by the barges on the river. It was 9 in the morning and cloudy so it was pleasant walking around outside.

The museum is about the Mississippi River. There is a section about the wildlife including aquariums and terrariums. That was probably Carly's favorite part.

Carly came home with 3 facts to tell Kenny.

Hernando Desoto "discovered" the Mississippi River. Native Americans already knew where the River was. Desoto wasn't looking for a river at all but treasure.

The Mississippi Delta has several feet of topsoil. Demonstrated by a tube as tall as the first and second floor. Compared to New Mexico which has no topsoil and Vermont that only has inches. That is why there is so much farming here and not so much in New Mexico.

French explorers had settled most of the Mississippi River. Thomas Jefferson bought the Louisiana Purchase from the French to add to the original 13 colonies.

We went to the 3rd floor observation deck to take a look. It is hard to tell but this point sticks way out. Carly was a little unsure about the safety of it (what's holding this up?). She was looking over the left side first and then turned to the right with the statement "if I fall I want to be on the grass". I didn't bother to tell her that it wouldn't matter as high as we were.

Marc at Take-Out Photo has a July photo challenge to post architectural photos. I have so many architectural photos in my archives that I couldn't decide which one to post. I was so excited that someone else wanted to see them that I couldn't wait to share. I was having such a hard time choosing that I couldn't do the challenge. Ever have that problem?

But yesterday, Carly and I went to Tunica'sRiverPark Museum and it was an awesome place to take some architectural photos. So, here was my chance to post. Somehow it made the choice easier to use one that I just downloaded off the camera.

Carly did this about a thousand times. She jumped from the side of the boat while Kenny tossed her the ball....over and over and over.

Fun with cousin, JC, who officially does not like being thrown or dropped in or put in the water by someone else. Which was in direct contrast with Carly who wanted to be thrown over the edge of the boat...over and over and over.

Gabby-girl loves going for boat rides too.

Yeah! for getting a shot of Kenny and I together.

Carly and I enjoying our day on the water.

{I took a self portrait of Carly and I right before Kenny said "here, I'll do it". His shot was A LOT better than the SP, so his made the blog!}

Monday, July 7

For the last few years we have spent the 4th at Celeste and D's Lake House on DeSoto Lake. I'm guessing 5 years. The weekend is typically full of family, visiting, playing on the lake, fireworks, sitting on the front porch, vegging out, and eating. This year was no different. It was good to visit with everyone. Beege, Libba, and JC were there, and we were even able to talk to Josh in Japan. Everyone pitches in and brings food and drink.

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{Celeste cooking on Bella}

There is always BIG, yummy breakfasts at the Lake. The cornerstone of which are D's awesome biscuits. There was also homegrown tomatoes, scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, cheese grits, fruit, homemade salsa. One morning we had quiche with the biscuits and another morning we had omelets with the biscuits. Eggs with salsa = YUMMY!

For our 4th of July meal, we went all traditional. We had BBQ ribs, slaw, baked beans, stuffed eggs, grilled squash, and tomatoes. Finished off later that evening with homemade ice cream.

For our 5th of July meal, we went traditional Japanese. There was gyoza, edamame, and sushi. Lots and lots of sushi! Celeste out did herself.

I love the sun. I love when the sun is coming up. I love when the sun is setting. I love when the sunisshining in the window of the car. I love days full of clear blue skies and big fluffy white clouds with the sun shining bright. And I really love the sun when I am on the water - the beach, the lake, the pool. There is just something about the combination of sun and water.